There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil - this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-15)
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
A colleague of mine who was leaving her congregation after several years of service posted the following words on Facebook not too long ago: “Where is the good in good bye?” It’s a fair question. It’s one I’ve been struggling with for 105 days now, since I told you all on March 15 that I’d be leaving. At the time it still seemed like a long way off. Now, all of a sudden, here it is. My last service at Central United Church. I feel that I should have something wise and powerful or uplifting and enlightening to share with you today. But ever since I read it, I’ve been burdened with that question: “where is the good in good bye?”
Well, the more I think about it, the more I realize that there might in fact be nothing good about good bye. Good byes are hard - personally, I hate them! But it’s a little bit like what I was talking about last week - good byes may be hard, but they’re also inevitable. The simple truth is that in one way or another every single relationship we’ll ever have is going to end with some sort of good bye. And usually it’s not good. After all, if it’s someone you’ve taken the time to want to say good bye to, then you’re probably not doing it joyously. There’s an element of grief involved in good byes; an undeniable sadness. I look out at the congregation here today and I see folks here with whom I’ve shared wonderful times of celebration; but I also see folks with whom I’ve shared terrible times of grief. Those experiences create a bond between people - and pastors create more of those bonds than most people just because of the nature of the vocation. And to say good bye to those of you with whom I’ve shared those moments is very hard. So, is there anything good about good bye? Probably not - but if good bye isn’t good, we can still say that good bye involves God. That’s something to reflect on.
Ecclesiastes 3 is one of my favourite passages of Scripture. It’s a favourite of mine because it doesn’t shirk things. It just gives us a whole list of the sorts of things that people might face in life, usually in contrasts - love and hate; peace and war, birth and death, etc., etc. - and it just tells us that there’s a time for all of them. I don’t think it’s trying to say that God is the cause of all of them. It’s just saying that things happen in life, and it’s reminding us that, really, there’s not much we can do to stop them, and I think it is assuring us that while God isn’t causing these things, God is with us in them all - celebrating with us in times of joy and grieving with us in times of sorrow. Understanding that God is with us but not controlling us means that sometimes we have to do the hard work of discernment. We may not get to decide when we’re going to be born or when we’re going to die, but sometimes we do have to discern when it’s “a time to search and a time to give up, [or] a time to keep and a time to throw away [or] even a time for war or a time for peace.…” And there’s one thing that Solomon forgot to put in his list. We also have to discern when it’s a time to come, and when it’s a time to go. And it’s not easy.
Over the last 105 days I’ve had people ask me why and how I made the decision to move on - and it isn’t always easy to explain, except that I felt that I had done what I had come here to do - whatever that was, because sometimes we wonder what our impact has been or what our purpose was. Lots of people - ministers as much as anyone - wonder what their purpose in a particular place and at a particular time is, and sometimes we worry about whether we’ve been successful or not. We develop bonds, we put down deep roots, we stand with families in good times and in bad times - but is that it? And if that is it, well - that isn’t a bad thing. Being a pastor is a great privilege that only a few get to experience, and I’m grateful to have been one of only 33 people since 1859 to have worn the title of “Lead Minister” of this congregation - and only Rev. George Knighton (who a few of you remember) was here longer than I’ve been. And to go is hard. But it’s time. It’s not that there isn’t more work to do here. It’s just that I have no more work to do here. I believe that I’ve done the ministry that God brought me here to do. To stay longer than necessary would be to spin my wheels, to drift, to keep on keeping on you might say - and that wouldn’t be healthy for either me or the congregation. So, for me at Central United Church, there was a time to come. Of that I have no doubt. God brought me to this place at a certain time to do a particular ministry. And now is the hard part - the time to go, and I do suspect that on July 26 I’m going to be standing in the pulpit at Pickering Village United Church for the first time, looking out at a sea of unfamiliar faces, and thinking to myself (just a bit anyway): “what have I done?”
“No one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end,” Solomon wrote. True enough. God is a mystery sometimes. We see dimly, but only as in a mirror was the way Paul described it. We act in faith and in trust and we believe that God has some sort of purpose for us to fulfil, and if, after having discerned God’s call and done the work we feel called to, we can say with Solomon that “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil - this is the gift of God” then we have done well. My time here at Central has been a gift to me. I have learned far more from you than I have ever been able to teach you, and I will carry my memories of Central with me to whatever ministries God calls me to in the future.
I know that quoting yourself seems a little bit prideful, but - hey - it’s my last Sunday, so just try and fire me for it! On February 6, 2005 - the very first time that I preached from this pulpit, I said that “everyone has a concept of who and what the ideal minister is, and the simple fact is that I cannot and will not meet those ideals.” That was prophetic. I haven’t met those ideals. I confess that. I’ve made my share of mistakes and for those mistakes and for where they may have caused hurt I apologize and I seek your grace and your forgiveness. But none of those mistakes were the result of a lack of caring or a lack of compassion. And we have had some wonderful successes together. I shared with the Needs Assessment Committee that one thing I’m very proud of is that so many of you have become so much more hands on in terms of mission engagement; that when I came here the understanding of mission seemed to be of special collections three times a year with the money being given away to some other organization. And that’s fine and worthwhile - but I wanted people to learn that mission meant sometimes just helping the person you pass on the street every day; that mission meant seeing the needs that touch your life regularly and responding to them. And I have seen so much growth at Central in that respect and I hope that I was a part of bringing that about.
I suggested at the outset that I felt that I should have something wise and powerful or uplifting and enlightening to share with you today. I don’t know if I succeeded. But I say this - be Christ in all that you do; be Christ to all whom you meet. I want to leave you with these words of Paul - the last words he wrote to the church in Corinth to whom he was so close:
Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
No comments:
Post a Comment